In modern building construction, state, county, and local building codes contain strict requirements relating to fire stopping measures. Most building codes, for example, require a specific fire-rating for walls and floors within a building. The fire-rating insures that if a fire occurs in one region of a building, it will be contained within that region for a time associated with the fire-rating.
Another building code requirement is that pipe or conduit penetrations through a fire barrier, such as a ceiling or wall, need to be sealed to restore the rating of the fire barrier. Typically, a contractor will fill theses openings with a backer material (polyethylene, polyurethane, or mineral wool) and seal the opening with a special caulk marketed for this purpose. This caulk and backer system of sealing pipe penetrations, however, has many drawbacks. For example, during construction, caulk and backer systems frequently wash out. Pipe movement (horizontal and vertical) due to internal pressurization, thermal expansion, thermal elongation, or seismic forces causes corruption of a sealed opening. A thin film or bead of caulk would not be able to withstand the stress created by a pipe moving from one side of an opening to the other, or from pipe elongation or movement perpendicular to the opening. Additionally, caulk and backer systems have high installation costs and are manual labor intensive. Therefore, a fire stop clamp, that supports a pipe and inhibits the passage of smoke and fire through a pipe penetration, is presented.